POSTED AT 11:03 AM 02-01-2019

Jair Bolsonaro sworn in as Brazil's leader

Image Courtesy: South China Morning Post

Brazil's far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, was sworn in on yeterday during a ceremony in the capital Brasilia, likely marking the beginning of a hard conservative shift in governing Latin America's largest economy and most populous nation.

Bolsonaro was elected president at the end of October, defeating his rival Fernando Haddad of the centre-left Workers' Party by a comfortable margin in the second-round runoff.

"We have a unique opportunity to rebuild our country," Bolsonaro said in his first speech in Brazil's National Congress after being sworn in.